Ever since 1996's
Too Late No Friends,
Gob has been steadily moving toward stardom. With each succeeding album, the Vancouver, Canada, band's sound moved farther away from the snide vocals and air-raid guitars of its debut, and closer to the anthemic sugar-punk popularized by
Blink-182. But widespread (i.e., American) success continued to elude
Gob, despite numerous Warped Tour appearances and the explosive success of fellow Canadian brats
Sum 41. That will all change with
Foot in Mouth Disease, their debut full-length for Arista Records. Producer Mark Trombino (
Blink-182,
Jimmy Eat World) has boxed up any remaining traces of
the Sex Pistols' swagger from
Gob's early work and buried it in L.A. Reid's backyard. Replacing that are 14 mind-bogglingly catchy jawbreakers that are closer to the Knack than
the Clash. The pogoing "Lemon-Aid," "This Evil World," and "Give up the Grudge" arrive just in time for summer. The gratuitous swearing of
Foot in Mouth Disease's explicit version will at least make teenage boys turn it down when parents are present. This, the clean version, is about as punk rock as a clip-on safety-pin nose ring. ~ Johnny Loftus